In Australia, Halloween is getting bigger and bigger every year. With the cultural impact growing it’s a good idea to consider some safety issues for your pet.

**Trick-or-treat candies are not for petsChocolate in all forms, especially dark or baking chocolate can be very dangerous for dogs and cats. Even non-chocolate candy is dangerous, as it may contain, xylitol, an artificial sweetener that can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar and seizures.

**Take caution with your pet’s costume Don’t dress your pet in a costume unless you know they’ll love it. Make sure it fits properly and is comfortable, doesn’t have any pieces that can easily be chewed off, and doesn’t interfere with your pet’s sight, hearing, breathing, opening its mouth, or moving.

**Don’t leave pets out in the yard on Halloween. Dog and cat owners should consider keeping their pets in a secure location during the celebrations. Too many strangers can be scary and stressful for pets. Loud excited kids dressed in unusual costumes can freak out pets. Dogs are especially territorial and may become anxious.

**Keep away from decorations Keep lit candles out of reach of pets. Carved pumpkins or candles are very easily knocked over causing a fire hazard or burns.

**Make sure your pet has ID There has been an increasing number of pets going missing on Halloween, ensure your pet has an identifying tag, engraved with your phone number. Having the proper identification will increase the chances that they will be returned.

If you have any pet safety concerns please call your local vet or one of 24-hour Pet Emergency Centres:

Along with being able to deal with any animal emergency, Animal Accident & Emergencyalso houses a critical care unit. This is complementary to our 24 hour vet – Melbourne pets requiring intensive care have access to experienced care around the clock.

It’s been a very busy weekend at Animal Accident & Emergency.This is Chloe, a very sweet 10 year old Shih Tzu who received critical care at our #24hour#Pet#Emergency#Centre for her head tilt and glucose level.

During summer we treat numerous pets with snake bite. It is a downside to living in Australia. In the Melbourne region, the most common snakes are Tiger snakes. Brown snake bites also occur but are less frequent. Tigers and Browns are very deadly. Bites from these snakes may kill pets within minutes. They have a mixture of toxins depending on the snake. Toxins may include: Neuro Toxin (affects nervous system and causes paralysis); Myotoxin (destroys muscles within the body); Coagulant Toxin (causes massive internal bleeding); Renal Toxin (affects kidney function).

To treat snake bite we use specific anti-venom therapy. While some pets may survive without anti-venom, the length of recovery and complications including death is much greater for these pets. Often these pets have had a minimal bite if they do survive.

Sometimes it is very easy to identify a snake bite – the pet was seen with a snake, starts vomiting and collapses. Other times we need to run specific tests to identify a snake envenomation.

Within our 24Hr Pet Emergency Centreswe keep a range of tests to identify snake bites. We have specialised laboratory machines so that we can identify a snake bite quickly. Sometimes there is not one test that we use, but a range of tests.

One of the most important tests is the Snake Venom Detection Kit(SVDK). The SVDK was developed by CSL and is specific for all Australian venomous snakes. The test looks for free venom in urine (or blood). If you have been bitten, then within a short period of time, there will be free venom filtered into your urine by your kidneys. The SVDK identifies this venom and tells us what type of snake has bitten the pet. It means that we know that the pet has been bitten and what type of anti-venom should be used.

Some pets can play with a snake and not be envenomated. The SVDK can be used to identify such pets and if the test is negative, we can avoid giving anti-venom which is very expensive.

We also use the SVDK to guide therapy. If after receiving anti-venom, the test is still positive, it indicates that further anti-venom will benefit the pet. If it is negative, then we know that giving further expensive anti-venom is not required.

You can contact ourPet Emergency Centres 24 hours, 7 days a week as we never close.

Our Animal Hospitals provide 24hr animal emergency at two great locations – Essendon and Point Cook. The centres are located to provide direct and easy freeway access. Time is precious in any emergency.

Our Emergency Centres provide dedicated emergency care. We are not just an after hours vet clinic.

We do see heat related diseases at our 24 Hour Pet Emergency Centresin Melbourne.Heat stroke is serious and is commonly seen in dogs. Heat stroke, is when the body temperature reaches above > 39.5°C. Dogs may die if their body temperatur…e reaches > 41.7°C.As an emergency critical care specialist centre, we see heat stoke due to:

1. Locking a dog in a car, even if the car windows are open it is too dangerous.
2. Exercising with a dog when there is excessive heat and humidity
3. Leaving your outdoor dog in the sweltering heat without adequate water or shelter/shade.